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Ventura College freshman Emma Larson buries a corner 3-pointer in the second quarter of the CCCAA state quarterfinals against Diablo Valley on Friday night in Ventura. Diablo Valley won, 59-57. PHOTO COURTESY OF FELIX CORTEZ

Ventura College assistant coach Robin Hester yells out instructions during the CCCAA state quarterfinals against Diablo Valley on Friday night in Ventura. Hester had to take over when head coach Ned Mircetic was forced to leave in the third quarter because of a family medical emergency. PHOTO COURTESY OF FELIX CORTEZ

Ventura College freshman Talia Taufaasau drives to the basket during the CCCAA state quarterfinals against Diablo Valley on Friday night in Ventura. Diablo Valley won, 59-57. PHOTO COURTESY OF FELIX CORTEZ

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The Ventura College women’s basketball team had already lost six members of its rotation, including three starters, through a gauntlet of pre- and in-season adversity.

And yet, there the Pirates were on Friday night, in the third quarter of the CCCAA state quarterfinals, in a tie game, against one of the best teams in the state.

When it lost another important piece of its team.

Ventura College freshman Cece Quintino picks herself off the floor during the CCCAA state quarterfinals against Diablo Valley on Friday night in Ventura. Diablo Valley won, 59-57.(Photo: PHOTO COURTESY OF FELIX CORTEZ)

Head coach Ned Mircetic left the coach’s box midway through the third quarter to help his wife Kim, who suffered a medical emergency behind the Pirates’ bench, and did not return.

He helped paramedics load her on to a stretcher and left the Ventura College Athletic Event Center with her, before the dramatic end of the Pirates’ 59-57 loss to Diablo Valley on Friday night.

“We all had to come together as a team,” freshman Madison Cvijanovich said. “Even if Ned wasn’t there, we still had to push ourselves and become one.

“We just had to stick together and dig deep, even though our head coach wasn’t there.”

Freshman Madison Cvijanovich on how the Ventura College women’s basketball team reacted in the third quarter tonight when head coach Ned Mircetic had to leave to bench to tend to wife, Kim, who suffered a medical emergency in the stands @VCAthletics@VCwbbWPH@pietapocketpic.twitter.com/44KLj4A3tg

Robin Hester, the Pirates’ longtime assistant coach, stood up to fill the head coach’s void.

“We’ve been doing this together so long,” Hester said. “It was kind of a natural thing. We’re always talking anyway. So when they said ‘Hester, you’ve got to go,’ you just stand up and you do it.

“Instead of telling Ned what I’m thinking, I’m telling them.”

Ventura College assistant coach Robin Hester yells out instructions during the CCCAA state quarterfinals against Diablo Valley on Friday night in Ventura. Hester had to take over when head coach Ned Mircetic was forced to leave in the third quarter because of a family medical emergency.(Photo: PHOTO COURTESY OF FELIX CORTEZ)

Reached at home after the game, Mircetic said Kim Mircetic “has multiple health issues and one of them hit her tonight. … She’s doing much better now.”

The game strangely continued for several frantic minutes while several people, including the home team’s head coach, worked on Kim Mircetic, who had collapsed a few rows behind the home bench.

“I’m sure they were wondering what was going on,” Hester said. “I didn’t know what was going on. All of a sudden, Ned’s not there. … I’m sure it affected them a little bit. We just had to move forward at that point.”

Someone is down behind the VC bench. Head coach Ned Mircetic has left the bench and is in the stands trying to lend aid. The game continues. Assistant coach Robin Hester is now coaching the Pirates @VCAthletics@VCwbbWPHpic.twitter.com/djrLUf3WIi

“The adversity that we’ve gone through this season is unlike anything I’ve seen before,” freshman Talia Taufaasau said. “I think we’ve developed a mental toughness that nobody in California has, really. That’s what got us as far as we did and allowed us to compete with Diablo Valley.”

VC held Diablo Valley, the state’s highest scoring team at 88.6 points per game, to its second-lowest point total of the season

“That was the game plan,” Hester said. “Grind them to a halt, make them play basketball, make them defend… We’ve been behind the eight ball all year. But they’ve fought and they clawed all year. That’s the character of this team. They just keep fighting to the end.”

Cece Quintino had 14 points and 13 rebounds, Cvijanovich and Victoria Maciel had 11 points apiece and LaDaesha Merriweather had 11 rebounds as VC ended its season 25-10.

Ventura College freshman Cece Quintino is well defended by Diablo Valley's Leilani Moncrease and Jasmine Kong during the CCCAA state quarterfinals on Friday night in Ventura. Diablo Valley won, 59-57.(Photo: PHOTO COURTESY OF FELIX CORTEZ)

“No one thought we would be here and that’s damn near the best team in California,” Quintino said. “They’re really good team. Being able to compete with them until the very last second meant a lot and it shows that we do belong here.”

Diablo Valley edged ahead, 45-42, after three quarters on Zahria Hendrix’s 3-pointer with 1:39 left in the third quarter.

The Pirates’ deficit was 53-47 when they made their final push.

Maciel’s 3-pointer and two Cvijanovich layups, the second from a pretty Taufaasau feed, pulled VC within 55-54 with 3:52 to play.

It trailed 59-57 when Taufaasau pulled down an offensive rebound in the paint in the final second. But before the guard could go back up to tie the game at the buzzer and force overtime, an official blew the play dead and awarded Diablo Valley the ball, ruling the ball had struck a basket support.

VC opened the game in an 8-1 hole, but used a 15-2 run sparked by Larryssa Russell’s four-point play to lead 16-14 after the first quarter and 32-31 at the half.

“The fact that we were able to make it here to the Elite Eight and the fact that we were able to hang in with such a formidable opponent (shows) a lot,” Maciel said. “We made big shots. They made big shots. And we just went at each other. It just came down to the final seconds.”

Diablo Valley played San Joaquin Delta in the semifinals Saturday night.

“We had a team that was 30-1 on the ropes,” Hester said. “We had a shot to tie. What more can you ask?

“The kids played well. They did everything we asked. We had a good scout. We had a good week of preparation. We hit some shots in the first half. We didn’t hit any in the second. You have to give them credit a little bit for taking what we wanted away. We had to go Plan B and C and we just couldn’t make the shots.”